Hydro-massage tubs, such as hot tubs, whirlpool tubs, physical therapy tubs, and spas, are well known. Such devices typically include a tub structure with a water circuit and/or an air circuit and one or more nozzles or jets that direct a flow of pressurized water and/or air into the interior of the tub. In these types of water retaining devices, a suction opening in the tub removes bath water from the interior of the tub and provides the water to a water pump that pressurizes the water and returns the pressurized water through the water circuit to the nozzles that open into the interior of the tub. The air circuit is typically provided to mix air with the water to provide a water and air mixture from each nozzle.
The water circuit of the hydro-massage tub includes the water pump and various pipes that convey water from the suction opening in the bath tub through the pump in such a way that the water removed from the tub is pressurized before it is returned to the nozzles in the wall of the tub. In a similar manner, the air circuit includes pipes used to convey air from an adjustable air vent or air blower to the nozzles, where the air may be either mixed with the water just before the water exits the nozzles and re-enters the tub or separately injected into the water of the tub.
The inner walls of the pipes in both the water circuit and the air circuit are susceptible to the accumulation of, inter alia, fatty deposits and calcium deposits. The air circuit is subject to such undesired deposits because it becomes filled with water when the tub is filled with water and the water pump is turned off. The growth of bacteria in connection with these deposits is a particular problem when there are many different users of the tub, such as is the case in hotels, hospitals, and other institutions. Due to the potential for bacteria build-up in the tub's piping, regular cleaning of the tub is required.
Conventional cleaning methodologies require the user or other individual delegated the task of cleaning the tub (e.g., a housekeeper in a hotel) to fill the tub with hot water to a level just above the highest water or air jet, pour in a cleaning agent, and then run the tub system so that the water and cleaning agent are conducted through the various pipes in the system. If stronger cleaning agents or chemicals are used, the user must typically empty the tub after cleaning has been completed, refill the tub, and then run the system once more to rinse away the cleaning agent and/or chemical residues. As evident from the foregoing, conventional tub cleaning wastes a significant amount of water and requires substantial time to complete. Further, some of the common, strong cleaning agents, such as ozone, can have harmful effects on the individuals that perform the tub cleaning. Still further, with conventional tub cleaning approaches, an unnecessarily large amount of cleaning agent has to be used in order to reach an adequate cleaning solution concentration when the tub is full of water.
Various tub cleaning techniques have been proposed to substantially reduce the amount of water, cleaning agent and time necessary to clean a hydro-massage tub. Such techniques are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,224 to Versland, U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,545 to Mathis et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,012,535 and 4,901,926 to Klotzbach, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,125 to Dijkhuizen. However, all these techniques require the introduction of a cleaning agent into the water piping of the tub through a local dispenser. Thus, such techniques require the user or other individual performing the tub cleaning to manually add the cleaning agent to the tub's dispenser at the time of cleaning. As a result, all such prior art techniques are labor intensive.
Therefore, a need exists for a system for cleaning a water retaining device, such as a pool or a hydro-massage tub, that mitigates the amount of water, cleaning agent and time necessary to perform the cleaning, while eliminating the need for manual, local insertion of the cleaning agent into the device. A water retaining device for use in or with such a system and a water propulsion device for use in or with such a water retaining device would also be an improvement over the prior art.